Be a Good Scout - Be Prepared

The Washington Times reported (http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2004/may/10/20040510-122711-8996r/) on Monday, May 10, 2004 that “Metropolitan Police officers took more than a minute longer to respond to emergency calls last year than they did in 2002, according to recent police department statistics. The statistics, contained in the department's fiscal 2005 budget performance report, show that the average response time for the highest-priority calls -- Priority 1 -- was 8 minutes, 25 seconds in fiscal 2003, up from 7 minutes, 19 seconds in fiscal 2002 and 7 minutes, 47 seconds in fiscal 2001.”

Imagine struggling with a carjacker armed with a knife and high on meth. He is trying to take your car and in the back seat is your sleeping infant.
Can you protect yourself or your child for 8 minutes waiting for a police officer to show up? Have you ever wrestled with anyone for 3 minutes? Have you ever been hit by a closed fist by someone who wanted to hurt you?

In the City of San Bernardino, California, the Press Enterprise reported in April 2008(http://www.pe.com/localnews/sanbernardino/stories/PE_News_Local_B_bcalls02.38fd91c.html) that “It took officers an average of 45 minutes, for example, to respond to calls rated as "possibly hazardous." That was the slowest response to such calls in the city -- about 10 minutes slower than the average for the Southern Patrol Area and eight minutes behind the Central Patrol Area.”

Colorado Springs, Colorado reported in their 2008 statistics (http://www.springsgov.com/units/police/miscDocs/2009FastFacts.pdf) that the average response time to emergency calls was 10 minutes and 15 seconds. Their TARGET response time is 8 minutes 90% of the time. Can you wait 10 minutes? What if you are in the unlucky bunch that waits more than 8 minutes and so you wait while being beaten to a bloody pulp, hacked and cut, stabbed and rapes? Be patient, the police are doing the best they can with their resources. What about your children? Do you have the training and stamina to stop an attack?

If you were in Minneapolis in 2008, you had to wait 8 minutes and 33 seconds for someone to come and save your sorry as from the crazy guy (or gal) who wanted to kill you. (http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/results/policeresponse.asp)

The facts show that an attacker needs only a few seconds to inflict irreprehensible and permanent damage to you and your loved ones. You will have to wait several minutes for the police/sheriff to show up – and that is if you live in a metropolitan or well serviced community! If you live “out in the sticks”, you could be waiting 45 minutes or more.

An instructor who was also the chief of police in an Orange County city once told me, “Better to be judged by twelve than carried by six, and beg forgiveness than ask permission.” That chief is now some high-level director at the California Department of Justice. I had heard those phrases before but never gave them too much thought. In the context of law enforcement training, the phrases refer to an officer’s judgment and decision to use deadly force and the consequences of not using such force.

The key word that connects all of these facts and opinions is training. With proper training a person can learn to raise their awareness level to new heights and avoid dangerous situations before any harm can be done. A properly trained person will know how to defend them selves with the hands, take weapons away from an attacker, and protect their loved ones. A person who is armed and has received combat pistol training will be ready, willing, and able to thwart off nearly any kind of violent crime in their presence. Therefore, I think it can go without saying that any tool in the hands of an untrained person can result in an undesired affect, like shooting a hole in your foot or worse.

This isn’t a doomsday prophecy nor is it written for the sake justifying unlimited gun access. It is written to raise awareness to those who haven’t been in the unfortunate position of being defenseless against an attacker while waiting what might be a lifetime for help to arrive. I would even go so far as to say that all of the aforementioned facts are similar to responses by fire authorities and emergency medical services. You should have basic and advanced first aide. You should a have a fire extinguisher in several rooms of your home. Everyone should know where they are and how to use them.

Now imagine that we just had The Big One. For those not familiar with The Big One, I’m not referring to the Big O, but rather a catastrophic earthquake. All of the United States has historically been seismically active, from the East Coast to the West Coast. Don’t believe me? Go to http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsus/ and check out what the United States Geological Survey has to say on the subject. If you thought 8 minutes was long, try waiting days. Several days. You have a few cuts, a broken arm, no food, no water, no phone service, no heating, no shelter. Then the idiot rioters begin in the ghetto/barrio (when was the last time you saw blue-collar middle class people riot?). They spread out and figuratively (and literally) fan the flames of violence with no law enforcement to stop them or even slow them down. Whatever your motivation, get training, get prepared, and don’t be the one who needs rescuing from something that you could have and should have handled yourself.

Some Important Earthquakes http://www.uwgb.edu/dutchs/EarthSC102Notes/102QUAKES.HTM

1755 - Lisbon, Portugal
Killed 70,000, Raised Waves in Lakes all over Europe

First Scientifically Studied Earthquake

1811-1812 - New Madrid, Missouri (8.8)

Felt over 2/3 of the U.S.
Few Casualties

1886 - Charleston, South Carolina
Felt All over East Coast, Killed Several Hundred.
First Widely-known U.S. Earthquake

1906 - San Francisco

Killed 500 (later studies, possibly 2,500)

First Revealed Importance of Faults

1923 - Tokyo
Killed 140,000

1964 - Alaska
Killed about 200
Wrecked Anchorage.
Tsunamis on West Coast.

1976 - Tangshan, China
Hit an Urban Area of Ten Million People
Killed 650,000